Do these people ever grow tired of beclowning themselves? And by “these people” I’m speaking of the folks at CNN who can’t seem to cover any issue in the United States today without “systemic racism” as the underlying cause. Homelessness is caused by racism. The pandemic was racist. And now, putting a cherry on top of this dish, daylight savings time is racist. But how does that work? I’ll be the first to admit that I think daylight savings time is a bad policy that’s no longer required and would like to see it end. But how does it relate to racism?
The answer is provided by CNN Health reporter Jacqueline Howard. You see, disruptions in a person’s sleep cycle (which happen for many when we change the clocks) have been shown to “contribute to general health problems.” And since Black and Hispanic people supposedly have more health problems on average than white people, that means that they are disproportionately impacted by daylight savings time. Let me know if I’m going too fast for you here. (Fox News)
A recent online article from CNN argued that Daylight Savings Time disproportionately affects the sleep and health of minority communities.
The piece, published on Friday by CNN Health reporter Jacqueline Howard, argued that Daylight Savings Time often disrupts sleep, throws off people’s circadian rhythms and can contribute to general health problems.
And since people of color have a higher number of health problems, this means observing Daylight Savings Time is more dangerous for them.
It appears that the author was aware of how ridiculous she sounded because she included the phrase “it’s not that White adults don’t also experience a lack of sleep and its health consequences.” Of course, a phrase like that is always followed by a “but.” And there were plenty of buts to come as the article progressed.
First of all, as Jacqueline Howard clearly must be aware, the clocks change equally for everyone. We don’t have a system where minorities are forced to change their clocks by two hours while white people only set them backward or forward by one hour. It’s an annoyance we are all subjected to equally unless you happen to live in Hawaii, Arizona, or one of the five territories that don’t observe the practice.
What Howard is actually saying (or would be if she was being honest) is that people who experience more health issues are generally people with less financial security. And it is unfortunately true that many of the poorest communities, particularly in larger cities, are disproportionately populated by minorities. But that’s not true exclusively. There are many very poor rural communities that are almost entirely populated by whites, particularly in the southeast. And they face the same challenges as their urban counterparts.
Using the verbal maneuver that Howard employs, you can say that almost any problem facing American citizens is “structurally racist.” Crime is higher in those communities. Student performance is lower in the public schools in poorer neighborhoods. Employment rates are lower. You can label all of those things as “racist” if you wish, but they are all being driven by poverty and a lack of financial opportunity. So this entire argument is a bit silly right out of the gate.
But hey… if this gets rid of daylight savings time, let’s go with it. Sign me up for daylight savings time being racist if it brings the practice to an end more quickly. There is actually a bill in Congress right now that would bring an end to this nonsense. It passed in the Senate already but the jackwagons in the House couldn’t manage to find enough votes for it.
